Thread by @PaxChristiNJ

Answer: Since it opened in 1993, but then it was operated by Esmor. INS found that guards treated people with "capricious cruelty". While the operators have changed, it's still a miserable place that needs to be closed. #ICEOutOfNJ #FreeThemAll #DignityNotDetention

https://twitter.com/mattkatz00/status/1389617504809590787

One of the women who was held at the Elizabeth Detention Center in those early years was Fauziya Kassindja who fled her country of Togo to escape a forced marriage and female genital mutilation. She came to the US seeking asylum but was jailed instead. pbs.org/speaktruthtopo…

Fauziya and the 60 other women who were detained there were strip searched and forced to shower within sight of male guards. They were placed in solitary for minor infractions and sometimes chained and shackled.

In 1995 there was an uprising of the people detained there causing significant damage to the facility and forcing it to close. INS placed the blame squarely with the migrant jail's operator, Esmor. INS refused to allow Esmor to continue with its contract. washingtonpost.com/archive/politi…

Local officials including @MayorBollwage also swore they would not allow the facility to reopen. Then Union County Prosecutor Andrew K. Ruotolo, Jr. threatened to take Esmor to court to prevent it. nytimes.com/1995/06/20/nyr…

However, @MayorBollwage and the Elizabeth Police Chief were largely concerned with the lack of an "emergency plan" by the operators of the facility and the fact that Elizabeth Police officers had been called in to quell the uprising.

In the end, no one from Esmor was held accountable. The company was allowed to sell the balance of its contract to CCA (now CoreCivic) for $6.2 million. In a parting indignity guards stole from people before they were transferred to other facilities. nytimes.com/1996/07/07/nyr…

However, Joyce Phipps, who still practices immigration law in NJ fought for & won the right to rifle through the garbage to obtain precious documents necessary for many people's asylum cases. She rescued eight "xerox boxes" worth of materials that Esmor claimed had been destroyed

Another ally at the time was @SenatorMenendez who was a Congressman at the time. It was at his urging that INS opened an investigation into Esmor in the first place.

It is important to note that the Elizabeth Detention Center predates the IIRIRA which made the asylum process more difficult and significatntly expanded the immigration detention system law.cornell.edu/wex/illegal_im…

We had an opportunity in 1995 to reflect on how our country was systematically abusing people fleeing persecution, war & poverty. We responded with more of the same. We are now at another pivotal moment. Let's not respond with more of the same. Let's #FreethemAll